Page 103 of Business Casual
“And I can cry if I want to,” she says, hand reaching forward and squeezing mine. “Or follow you down dark hallways and ask why you’re leaving after barely an hour. Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, of course.” I swallow, and it sounds too loud, even with the muffled sounds of the party drifting through the closed door. “I’ve got—I’ve got some work stuff to handle.”
“Right now?”
I nod. “Yes.”
She sighs. “Charlie.”
“Nova.”
“What’s going on with you?”
I grasp for the end of my control as a hot flare of frustration rolls up my spine. I’ve been trying to keep everything contained all evening, and I feel like I’m standing at the very edge of a bad decision. I’ve got no reason to be upset. No reason to care about who she does and doesn’t talk to.
But I am upset, and I do care.
I’m jealous as fuck.
And I’m mad that I’m jealous as fuck.
I let go of her hand and scratch at my eyebrow, taking one step backward and putting more space between us. This room is too dark, and my thoughts are too quick, and Nova is too close. I never make good choices when I’m pushed in a corner.
“Nova, I’m—”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” My pulse thunders in my ears. I am terrified of saying something that I’ll regret. “I’m going to go.”
“No.”
“Yes.” Christ, this woman. She’s always pushing me. I usually like it, but right now I need to leave. I reach for the door at my back. “I’ll see you later this week. Harvest festival and…whatnot.”
She closes the space between us and presses her palm to the door, snapping it shut again. Her chest presses against mine. I can feel every one of her exhales against my neck.
“Tell me,” she says.
My heart is hammering. I’m a bottle, shaken up and ready toexplode. I’m thinking too many things, feeling too many things, the filter I struggle with on my best days flimsy and ready to collapse. “Tell you, what?”
“Why are you hiding from me?” She tips her face closer to mine, looking for all the world like she’s trying to read the answers to her questions on my face. “What’s going on?”
“It’s no—”
“If you say, ‘It’s nothing,’ one more time, I’m going to lock you in this room with me. I won’t let you out until you decide to be honest.”
It’s not the punishment she thinks it is. And before I know it, I’m tumbling right over the edge. My restraint crumbles and frustration guides me forward.
“Fine.” I give in to temptation and slip my hand under her hair, squeezing at the back of her neck. It feels like I haven’t touched her in ages. Like I’ve been holding myself back from everything I want for an eternity. She collapses in a curve against me, her palm still flat against the door. “You want to know what’s going on?”
“Yes,” she breathes, pressing herself harder against me.
“When you said business casual, was that for me or for you?”
She blinks twice, her gaze and her breathing heavy. She likes the way I’m touching her. She likes that I’m being rough. “What?”
I lean closer so I can brush my lips over the shell of her ear. Her shoulders shake in a tiny shiver. Something dark and possessive uncurls in my chest.
“You said if you’re fucking me, no one else is.” I collar her ear with my teeth and nip, just once. “Do the same rules apply to you?”
